I'm using bleeds in my project because many photos will go right up to the edges, but while this long process of laying out photos and text takes place, I need to print certain pages. The problem is (I think this is the problem), my project page size is 8.5x11" and when I print an 8.5x11" page I don't get the whole page because the printer wants to keep the bleed areas intact. I could get around this problem, perhaps, if I had a printer that could print on much larger sheets of paper, but I don't.

I know these bleed areas will be important when I finally get this book to the printers, but for now, is there a way for me to tell my printer to ignore them?

You can export to PDF without bleeds Your design will still go to edges (when viewed on-screen), but there won't be extra "bleed" beyond the 8.5 x 11 size. Print the PDF at "Actual Size". Your print will cut off at the printable margins without scaling the page content.

A couple give a hecks. One, likely your print job should have any bleed items extend past the edge of the page and into the bleed area. I know of no print establishment that can do a perfect trim on more than a couple pages.

Second, if you create the PDF without including the bleed size, which is fine, your printer is going to automatically cut off a varying amount of the images that go to the page edge. I didn't think you wanted that.

Hi there. Yes, I'll leave the bleed areas alone, for the day (still a couple of months off) when I go to the printer's. For these pdf quick-print things I'm doing, I really just want to check the text, so I'm not worried about images being cut off... they're just rough.